Mantteacttjke oe hats



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE? WM. F. WARBURTON AND G. E. LOVETT, OFPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MANUFACTURE 0F HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 27,848, dated April 10, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, W. F. WABBURTON and C. E. Lovn'r'r, both of thecity and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Hats; and we dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same.

Our invention consists of a process, fully described hereafter, ofattaching the lining to the interior of a hat by means of an elasticcement simultaneously with the finishing of the exterior of the hat bythe application of heated irons, so that the body of the hat may berendered elastic and the interior smooth and uniform without any othermanipulation than that required for finishing the exterior of ordinaryhats.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to practice our invention,we will now proceed to describe the manner in which to carry it intoelfect.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specificationFigure l, represents a vertical section of our improved hat. Fig. 2, anexaggerated sectional view of part of Fig. l, showing the differentmaterials of which the hat is composed.

The hats to the manufacture of which our improvement is most applicable,are those which have bodies which require nishing on the outside withheated irons, such as some classes of felt hats and hats which havestiened bodies.

In applying our improvement to the latter class of felt hats, the bodyis saturated with the usual stiifening material, reduced to the desiredform by the well known process of blocking and ironing, and the exteriorof the body coated with shellac varnish for receiving the plushcovering. A lining of thin leather, any woolen fabric, or other materialusually employed for the purpose, and having any desired ornamentalfigures and designs on its surface, is then selected and itsunornamented surface coated with a preparation of gum elastic or anyother substance or combination of substances which possess the twoproperties of close adhesion when ap lied under heat and pressure, andelasticity when cold. The lining is then spread over the whole interiorof the body with its prepared surface in contact with the felt, when thebody is ready to be submitted to the process of finishing. This isaccomplished by applying a heated iron to the plush cover on the outsideof the body, the heat causing the shellac preparation to melt andrendering it an adhesive medium for securing the plush cover to thebody, at the same time the heat striking through the felt will melt thegum elastic or other preparation with which the lining is coated, andthis heat combined with the pressure of the iron will cause the liningto adhere closely to the inside of the felt body which is now complete.In ordinary hats the lining is loose and detached from the body, therigidity of the hat depending upon the coating o f shellac varnish. Nowthe latter, especlally after the spirit with which it is prepared hasevaporated, is very brittle and readily granulates, so that the hatreceiving a blow or any undue pressure the body will break, the shellacgranulating at the point where the breakage takes place, and the hatconsequently becoming bulged and presenting an unsightly appearance. Bysecuring the lining to the body of the hat through the medium of anelastic adhesive cement, not only is additional strength afforded, butif the hat receives a blow, the part struck will through the elasticityof the cement, instantly recover its original position, so that the bodyof the hat remains unbroken and free from unsightly bulges.

As regards the internal appearance of hats manufactured after ourimprovements, it will be readily seen that any variety of fancy liningsmay be used to suit the taste of the maker, at the same time theuniformity with which the lining is spread over the interior surface ofthe hat renders it more pleasing to the eye than the ordinary detachablelining which in time becomes crumpled and unsightly.

We claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Theprocess of attaching the lining to the interior of the hat by means ofan elastic cement simultaneously with the finishing of the exterior ofthe hat as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. F. VARBURTGN. CHAS. E. LOVETT.

A. C. KLINK.

